Stepping Stones for Readers

Monday, July 15, 2013

Historical Romance set in the Scottish Highlands --- available
through Amazon on Kindle or in paperback.

Scotland, 1599 . . .

He abandoned her. She had failed to be
enough for him. The empty space he left behind hollowed out her heart, and she
wondered what to do with the rest of her life.

When Ronan leaves the clan to
seek his fortune, Triona fears she will never see him again. Four years later,
a threat against her life forces her to depend on a mysterious, cloaked rogue
known as Blackhawk.

She
knows he is capable of protecting her, but what is he hiding? Why does he
refuse to show his face?

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The oldest Blake
sisters ~ Susannah and Katie, who are the same age one week every year,
are celebrating their fifth and sixth birthdays in a most unusual way.
Nana has planned a tea party but asks the girls to give gifts instead of
receiving them, to new friends she has invited.Katie is confused about this undesirable concept and tries to discover who these kids are and why they want to ruin the party.She is certain it is the Stink Boys from down the road, until the new friends begin flying in...

2) Mr. Snowman Ate Our Picnic Lunch ~ Book 2

The
youngest Blake sisters, Kelsey and Sharon, are left behind at the
grandparent's cabin after their parents take the four older sisters on a
ski trip. They soon forget their disappointment when Nana and Papa
suggest they build their first snowman.So the fun begins with hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies, a snowball fight, and chasing a doe and her fawn around the cabin.The
girls picnic lunch disappears and the youngest sister thinks the
snowman ate it because he's holding a half-sandwich with a bite missing
in his pine-cone-thumb and pine-branch-finger hand. The older sister
disagrees. Then who did?

Bear Cub Adventure ~ Book 3

The
middle Blake sisters, Marsha and Becky, get to go on a camping trip to
Sugar Pine Point State Park, ALONE with their parents! Unfortunately
they are surprised to find out the cub scout, Stinky Boys are going on
the hike with them. Why would the girls parents leave their sisters
behind and invite the neighbors?Trek along with the trail with these
two families and meet the critters they encounter along the way,
including a mama bear and her cub, and learn a few lessons every camper
should know.(Wonderful illustrations of a porcupine, beaver, skunk, raccoons, owl, deer, fish, and one more bear cub than expected)

Nana's Tin of Buttons ~ Book 4

The
six Blake sisters are once again visiting their grandparent's Lake
Tahoe cabin while waiting for their new sibling to be born.What can the bored girls do for fun on a rainy day?Nana
suggests they make button necklaces and tells them the story behind the
buttons in her tin. At first the sisters aren't thrilled but they soon
have a change of heart and each girl designs her own personalized
necklace.The sun comes out the next day so Papa piles everyone in
the car for a drive around Lake Tahoe while they continue to wait for
news about the baby.Will the baby be a brother or another sister?The girls visit their favorite Tahoe sites and return to a wonderful surprise.

******************

Kathy Boyd Fellure is the second born of eight daughters in a writing family. Her
parents began reading to their girls and never stopped, continually
adding books to children's bookcase even the wee ones were free to
explore.Kathy began writing stories in elementary school and
continued through high school and college. Her first published words
were in the non-fiction genre; slice of life, freelance newspaper
reporting, and church columns.After dabbling in poetry and song
lyrics while stationed for three years in England with her military
husband, she dipped her toes in the fiction genre and dove into the deep
waters for a long swim.

The Blake Sisters Lake Tahoe Adventure
Stories are beautifully illustrated children's story books for ages 4 -
8, or to 100 as her faithful readers proclaim. These historical accounts
of Tahoe, California from 1959 - 1969, are rich in family values and
honest sibling interactions. A teaching page ends each story with fun
and interesting facts to learn and share.

Kathy's contemporary
women's novels, On the Water's Edge, are represented by Wendy Lawton of
Books & Such Literary Agency. The first novel is completed and
presently being shopped, the work-in-progress is at a 50,000 word count,
and Kathy plans to start the third this fall. These are also Lake Tahoe
stories with a hint of romance, and struggles that lead to searching
for the only One that can bring truth and salvation to overcome fear,
unforgivness, and abandonment.

You can contact Kathy at the websites listed below and on Facebook and Twitter.Kathy
serves as the Distribution Editor for Manzanita Writer's Press, she is
the founder of Amador Writer's Critique Group, (which hosts an annual
literary read and is listed in the Jerry B. Jenkins 2013 Christian
Writer's Marker Guide) and a member of ACFW and Inspire Christian
Writer's. She teaches children's writing workshops for conferences and
is available for guest speaking at retreats and writing seminars in both
the children's and novel genres.

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Moses Quilt is a contemporary novel that bridges racial and
generational divides. With a realistic and compassionate look into a
twenty-first-century dilemma, multiple award-winning author Kathi Macias
introduces readers to a confused and apprehensive young woman, Mazie
Hartford.

Facing major decisions about the love of her life and her
future, she must also wrestle with a nagging question about her family’s
past. She finds the answer to her questions in a most unexpected
way—her great-grandmother’s Moses quilt.

As her great-grandmother begins
to explain how each patch represents a story of courage and freedom,
Mazie must decide if she has the courage and freedom to overcome her own
personal fears and prejudices.

Welcome to Bloomfield, where life is simple, love is real, and stories are shared. Lynn
Myers is still reeling from losing her husband of thirty-five years
when word comes that her only sibling, an older brother, has also died.
With no one else to settle the estate, she must return to her small
hometown of Bloomfield, however briefly, to settle his affairs.

Lynn’s
daughter, Rachel, has just graduated from Bible college and with no
other commitments comes along to sort through her uncle’s huge old home,
right next to the local cemetery.

It isn't long before Rachel
has two men -- a handsome CPA and the youth pastor -- seriously vying
for her attention. At the same time, Lynn's attention is drawn to a set
of journals her brother has left behind detailing a long-standing
Bloomfield mystery. As they pursue solving this mystery, Rachel
must make some personal decisions about her future, while Lynn is forced
to face unexpected issues from her own past.

Monday, June 17, 2013

A long-buried secret. An unexpected encounter. A quest for answers.
Celeste Tatem, a special-education teacher at The Brighton Center in
Schreiber, Indiana, couldn't be more in love with her husband, Joe. But
the memory of one day in the past haunts her, threatening their
relationship. When Joe dies in a factory explosion, she sinks into
depression. It will take the arrival of a new student, Lily, and her
delightful honesty, laughter, and joy at life's little things to awaken
Celeste to hope.

When Don, an old flame from college, reenters Celeste's
world, the flickers of love stir once again, and startling questions
arise. Questions that threaten to rip the veneer off of her carefully
guarded secret. Then the most unexpected thing of all happens.... A
story of love and forgiveness in the most unexpected places.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Near her
eighteenth birthday, Margaret Lenora Caine finds a chest hidden in the attic
containing proof that she was adopted. The daughter of wealthy merchants in
Seattle, she
feels betrayed both by her real parents and by the ones who raised her.

Maggie
desires a place where she belongs. But her mother’s constant criticism and
reminders that she doesn't fit the mold of a young woman of their social
standing have already created tension in their home. With the discovery of the
family secret, all sense of her identity is lost.

When Maggie asks to visit her grandmother in Arkansas, her
father agrees on the condition that she take her Aunt Georgia as a chaperone and
his young partner, Charles Stanton, as protection on the journey. Will she
discover who she really is and, more importantly, what truly matters most in
life?

Mary’s Blessing ~ book 2

When her mother dies, Mary Lenora must grow up quickly to
take care of her brothers and sisters. Can love help her to shoulder the
burden?

Mary Lenora Murray knows she is adopted. As she was growing
up, her mother called her “God’s blessing.” But now that she’s gone, Mary no
longer feels like any kind of blessing. Her father, in his grief, has cut
himself off from the family, leaving the
running of the home entirely in Mary’s hands.

As she nears her eighteenth birthday, Mary can’t see
anything in her future but drudgery. Then her childhood friend Daniel begins to
court her, promising her a life of riches and ease. But her fairy-tale dreams
turn to dust when her family becomes too much for Daniel, and he abandons her
in her time of deepest need.

Will Daniel come to
grips with God’s plan for him? And if he does return, can Mary trust that this
time he will really follow through?

Catherine's Pursuit ~ book 3

Raised by her father, Catherine McKenna has never lacked for anything,
surrounded by people to take care of her every need. On her eighteenth
birthday she discovers that not only did her mother die when she was
born, but she has two identical sisters. Although her father vowed not
to look for his daughters, Catherine made no such promise. Setting out
on her own with one clue and her maid in tow, she's determined to find
her sisters.
Collin Elliott has seen better days. After losing his ship to a violent
and unexpected storm, he is trying to recover--physically and
emotionally. When Angus McKenna sends him to find, follow, and protect
his daughter, he wants nothing more than to finish his task and return
home. Can he help her find her sisters?
And will the discoveries they make along the way teach them both what's most important in life?

Lena Nelson Dooleyis an award-winning author with
more than 650,000 books in print. She is a member of American Christian Fiction
Writers—where she received the Mentor of the Year award in 2006—DFW Ready
Writers, and Christian Authors Network. She lives in Hurst, Texas, with her husband of over 45 years.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Lilyan joins Patriot spies in British-occupied Charlestown, SC, to
rescue her brother from a notorious prison ship. She'll lie, steal, kill
or be killed she promises Nicholas Xanthakos, a scout with Francis
Marion's partisans, who leads the mission. In Nicholas' arms she
discovers enduring love...a home. But that home is a long time coming.
Her journey requires she save the life of one British officer but kill
another to protect her Cherokee friend Elizabeth. In escaping bounty
hunters, she treks miles of wilderness and very nearly loses everything
before finally reuniting with her true love.

A history lover, Susan F. Craft researches for her novels with the same
excitement as Alan Quartermain hunting for King Solomon's Mines and with
the persistence of Lewis and Clark. She enjoys the chase when a clue
leads her from one "treasure" to the next, to the next.

A South
Carolinian, Susan has a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Her 40-year
career includes working for SC Educational Television, the SC Department
of Mental Health, the SC College of Pharmacy, and currently for the SC
Senate. The Chamomile, published by Ingalls Publishing Group, was
released in November 2011 and is the fourth book she has authored. The
first two were S.C. State Library award-winning professional works in
the field of mental health, and the third, self-published in 2006, is A
Perfect Tempest, a historical fiction set in Columbia during the Civil
War.

Susan is a member of Romance Writers of America, the
American Christian Fiction Writers, The Historical Novel Society, the
S.C. Writers Workshop, the SC Historical Society, the Robert Burns
Society, the Colonial American Christian Writers, and the Inkplots, a
writers' critique group. Her short stories have been published in four
of the group's collections.

The Southern Independent Booksellers
Alliance selected The Chamomile as a Fall 2011 Okra Pick, recognizing
it as a top novel of the season.